Christmas is a time for food, drink and celebrations. However, Christmas food and drink often contains high levels of sugar and fat, which can make controlling your diabetes difficult. Diabetes doesn’t mean you have to miss out on your favourite Christmas foods. By making sensible choices and making sure you exercise, you can enjoy all that Christmas has to offer.

 

Alcohol

If you drink, it is likely that you will consume more alcohol than usual at Christmas. Alcohol usually contains high levels of sugar. No matter how freely the wines and beers are flowing, you should take care to avoid overindulgence. You should have a glass of water for every glass of alcohol, and avoid drinking on an empty stomach.


 

Pigs in Blankets

When preparing pigs in blankets, you should use low fat sausages and lean back bacon. Before you wrap the sausages, you should trim any excess fat from the bacon. Grill the sausages rather than baking or frying them to reduce the fat content further.

 

Christmas Turkey

You should opt for the lighter coloured breast meat rather than the darker thigh meat, as it contains much less fat. Avoid eating any skin as this also contains high levels of fat.

 

Vegetables

Vegetables are a great way to satisfy your hunger while limiting your consumption of foods that are high in fat and sugar. Prepare the veg by steaming or boiling rather than frying in oil. You should try to fill at least two-fifths of your plate with Christmas vegetables.

 

Desert

Christmas dinner wouldn’t be Christmas dinner without a nice desert. You can still enjoy a traditional Christmas pudding, but you should use crème fraiche or low-fat custard which has been made using skimmed milk, rather than brandy butter or cream.

 

Chocolate

Limit the amount of chocolate that you eat and choose dark chocolate rather than milk, as it contains much less sugar.

 

Exercise

Everyone is going to indulge a little during the Christmas period. Exercise is an excellent way to control your blood sugar, and a brisk walk after Christmas dinner will help. If the weather is bad, you should make sure you don’t just sit on the sofa! Any activity, such as getting up to play with the children, or simply walking around the house, will help you to control the amount of sugar in your system and burn fat.

 

Christmas is a time for enjoyment. Don’t worry about maintaining perfect control at the expense of enjoying the celebration. By taking these simple precautions, you can enjoy the foods you love, while also having a happy and healthy Christmas.

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